He seemed really excited and walked into the gathering with a huge smile as Aircel aimed at providing tennis fans in the city a chance to share a few moments with one of the ATP’s top players.

The crowd had a lot of children in attendance, all keen to meet one of their heroes. They got a chance to pose for photographs with Lopez as well as receive signed Aircel Chennai Open merchandise such as tennis balls and t-shirts.

To enable him to stay connected while on the move here in India, Aircel also provided Lopez with a SIM card loaded with a special data pack.

Sankara Narayanan K, the Aircel Head – SBU 1 (Chennai & ROTN), was present on the occasion, and he took the initiative of interacting with the player and also asked him about his experience so far.

Feliciano Lopez being presented with a special mobile pack by Sankara Narayanan K, Head (Chennai & ROTN) - Aircel

Lopez expressed hope of continuing the tradition of Spanish players doing well at the Aircel Chennai Open and following in the footsteps of Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal.

“I hope so, Spanish players have done well, I remember Moya playing many matches here and Rafa I think played semis and then lost in the final, so yes I hope to do well”, said Lopez.

On his second visit here, after being present for the inaugural Champions Tennis League in November, Lopez said that he liked puris a lot amongst the Indian food he’d tasted.

Mr. Narayanan from Aircel also spoke about the event, saying, “Aircel Chennai Open in India has gained immense popularity amongst the youth in Chennai and Aircel takes pride to be part of the 20th year of South Asia’s ATP world tour that happens in the city every year. Giving a chance to these young children, fans and aficionados to meet such a brilliant player is a life time opportunity. Aircel is focused on enhancing its relationship with its customers and we hope to bring such innovative and exciting engagements often which would definitely bring that 'Extra' joy in the lives of our customers. We’re confident that meeting their favorite players will not just add joy to their lives, but also inspire them with the take-aways from these players like building confidence, bringing discipline to work and perseverance.”

The world ranked 14 Lopez will play his first match on Thursday against either Lukas Lacko or Aljaz Bedene.